Shalonda Scotts religious life at Northwestern began with a knock on the door. Scott and her parents were unpacking her bags
after first arriving on campus two years ago when University chaplain Timothy Stevens paid a call. Scott had filled out a card
expressing interest in religion, and Stevens wanted to welcome her and let her know about the spiritual options on campus.

Since then Scott and her roommate, sophomore Rhonnie Song, have made the most of those options. During their first year they
went to Thursday-night Bible study sessions in their residence hall, joined the Northwestern Community Ensembles gospel choir,
attended fireside chats sponsored by Rejoice in Jesus and met Friday evenings with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Scott,
a sophomore communications major, also worships with House on the Rock, a primarily African American Christian fellowship group.
Song is active with the Asian American Christian Ministry and sometimes visits the Sheil Catholic Center.

"Im just beginning with my spiritual life," says Song, who is majoring in mathematical methods in the social sciences,
international studies and political science. "But theres a lot of support here for continuing with my faith."

She and Scott are not alone when it comes to leading a spiritual life at Northwestern. Whether its through Bible studies in the
residence halls, Muslim prayers at Tech, Buddhist meditations in Parkes Hall or Friday-night Shabbat services at the Fiedler
Hillel Center, students are finding ways to enrich their faiths. While Christianity remains the dominant campus creed, more
than two dozen religious groups and ministries give students a growing range of spiritual choices.

"The biggest change Ive seen in my 15 years here is the growing diversity of religious representation on campus," Stevens says.
Between 1990 and 2001, the percentage of incoming first-year students who reported they were Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran,
Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, Roman Catholic and United Church of Christ declined. Meanwhile, the percentage of students
saying they were Buddhist, Jewish and Muslim grew.

This diversity can be seen during a typical week at Millar Chapel and the adjoining Parkes Hall. You can pray with the Islamic
Society at Northwestern on Friday afternoons and with the Asian Christian Fellowship on Friday evenings. Saturdays you can
sing gospel music with the Northwestern Community Ensemble, Sunday mornings attend a Protestant service and Sunday afternoons
meditate with the Buddhist Study Group.

On Wednesdays you can attend an Episcopal service, and on Thursdays the Korean Bible Study Group meets. Thursday night the
Hillel Center hosts Israeli folk dancing, and at other times during the week Orthodox Christians and Unitarians hold services
and group discussions.

While most everything in students lives  from roommates to majors to sweethearts  changes during their college years,
Northwesterns religious centers and groups act as ports in the storm. "I think students find everything else in their lives
topsy-turvy," says the Rev. Kenneth Simpson, director and chaplain of the Universitys Sheil Center. "By senior year they say
this was the one consistent presence in their lives, a place where they can step out of the fray of the University and its
demands. Its a haven, a home, an identity."

Northwesterns own religious identity stretches back to its genesis. The University began with a prayer  the schools nine
founders (all of them Methodists, three of them ministers) knelt in worship before launching their first organizational meeting.
During that meeting, they agreed to establish a university under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Through most of its history, Northwestern kept a strong Methodist tie. Regional church conferences chose a member of the board
of trustees, and until 1890 every University president was an ordained Methodist minister. But from the start Northwestern was
open to students of other faiths. Although Protestants remained the majority, students from Catholic, Jewish and other
backgrounds gradually enriched the spiritual mix.

In the 1930s this diversity gained a stronger foothold with the opening of Hillel House for Jewish students and the Sheil Club,
now the Sheil Catholic Center, for Catholics. Sheils history reflects the burgeoning spirit of religious cooperation: When the
club wanted to build its own center to accommodate the growing number of Catholic students, a Jewish friend of Bishop Bernard
Sheil, founder of the Catholic Youth Organization, donated the needed $42,500 in 1948 to buy the property.

After World War II, the G.I. Bill brought an even broader range of students to Northwestern, and the Universitys ties to the
Methodists gradually began to disappear. "We didnt think of Northwestern as a Methodist school at all," remembers Lynn Carver
(S53), alumni relations senior coordinator.

In the 1960s, as the University opened up its admission policies, and as more students challenged traditions, religious life
grew more varied. Hare Krishnas, Scientologists and other faiths appeared on campus. Religious groups grew active in the peace,
civil rights and environmental movements. Canterbury Northwestern for Episcopal students and the University Christian Ministry,
which is associated with the United Methodist and Presbyterian churches, held experimental underground services, which included
poetry, contemporary literature, and rock and folk music. "You name the instrument, it was tried," recalls Mark Middleton
(WCAS72), who was active in both groups.

Once the Vietnam War ended and the political turmoil of the 1960s and early 1970s faded, religious life on campus grew quieter,
says Middleton, who assisted the Episcopal chaplain, the Rev. Scott Jones, during the mid-1970s. Recognizing that the University
was for all intents and purposes a secular school, Northwesterns trustees voted in 1972 to sever its ties with the United
Methodist Church. All formal affiliation ended in October 1974.

Even without a formal church tie today, many students find the University a welcome place to deepen their faiths. When the Rev.
Jacqueline Schmitt, the current Episcopal chaplain, came to campus eight years ago, she heard students complain that the
University was so secular that they werent comfortable talking about religion. Now students tell her what a religious school
Northwestern is.

According to the 2001 survey of incoming first-year students, 84 percent said they frequently attended a religious service
during high school. Once they arrive at Northwestern, many students continue to attend services on campus or in the surrounding
community. For example, services at the Ebenezer AME Church, First Church of God, Second Baptist Church and Worship Center in
Evanston are popular with African American students, says Rodriguez Gray, a senior computer engineering major.

"I think were coming to a generation where the parents might have been less interested in religion and the kids are looking for
something," the Sheil Centers Simpson says. "Instead of rebelling against their parents religion, theyre rebelling against
their parents nonreligion."

In Room 122 of Parkes Hall on Wednesdays, an octagonal canvas is spread out on the linoleum floor. On the canvas, winding purple
lines form a pathway modeled after an 800-year-old labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France. The labyrinth is designed to lead
visitors on a spiritual journey that will sharpen their awareness of God. Once they reach its center, students and other visitors
think about lifes big questions before continuing their walking meditation as they follow the path back out.

While some students have little to no interest in exploring such religious paths while in college, many are examining their
beliefs. Christina Wright, a junior in the School of Education and Social Policy and president of NUCOR, the Northwestern
University Council of Religions, says students often talk about spiritual issues during their quiet hours. "My roommate in my
freshman year was Jewish," Wright says. "We had a lot of religious discussions at night. It would expand to the other girls in
my suite, who were mostly Christian."

These kinds of talks can take place at any time, even while washing dishes. Wright often talks about God and faith with other
students while cleaning up after Sunday night dinners and services at the University Christian Ministry. "During those
conversations is really when I feel the most spiritual connection with others," she says.

This spiritual interest is reflected in the popularity of the Department of Religion. For several years its introductory classes
in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Native American religions have amassed waiting lists, sometimes 70
students long. "It doesnt seem to matter how many slots we offer, they always fill up," says professor Cristina Traina, the
departments chair.

The Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary also add to the Universitys religious
depth. Garrett is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Seabury-Western with the Episcopal Church. Northwestern students
may attend their classes, lectures and worship services, and use their libraries. "They are great resources, but ones that have
been undertapped," says the Rev. Stevens. "We need to figure out a better way of interacting with them."

To be sure, the heart of religious life on campus is the chaplaincy. As Northwesterns fifth chaplain since 1946, Stevens holds
Sunday services, sponsors a choir, leads study sessions, counsels students and gives religious groups advice and support.
"He is helpful, insightful and honest," says Gray, a leader of the House on the Rock, a primarily African American Bible study
group.

Stevens, a member of the United Church of Christ, speaks as Northwesterns moral voice, says Mary Desler, associate vice president
for student affairs. When white supremacists came to campus a few years ago, he played a big role in calming the situation, she
says.

Stevens meets monthly with the leaders of the campus ministries that have their own staff and buildings near campus: the Sheil
Center; the Hillel and the Tannenbaum Chabad House for Jewish students; Canterbury Northwestern; the University Lutheran Church
at Northwestern; and the University Christian Ministry. "Its a very friendly group," says Rabbi Michael Mishkin, the Hillel
director. "We come together in a spirit of cooperation and support for each other."

Upstairs from the labyrinth in Parkes Hall, a small black plaque announces a special purpose for Room 210  Islamic Prayer Room.
Inside, a white carpet covers the floor, a poster of Mecca decorates one wall and a Koran sits on a stand.

Northwesterns administration provides the Universitys approximately 225 Muslim students with rooms such as this one to recite
their five daily prayers. But prayer is far from the only activity organized by Muslim and other religious groups on campus.
The Muslim-cultural Students Association, for example, holds an Islamic Awareness Week during the winter quarter and hosts a
banquet to break the Ramadan fast. This year the dinner attracted 350 students and faculty, many of them non-Muslims.

"The campus is pretty open to diversity, especially the administration and faculty, who try to promote it as much as possible,"
says Jawad Hussain, a senior who is majoring in economics and mathematical methods in the social sciences and is president of
the Muslim-cultural Students Association. "Generally students are curious to learn and understand."

Ramadan is not the only campus religious event that attracts hundreds of people. Services to observe the Jewish High Holidays in
the fall draw more than 1,500 worshipers, and the Sheil Centers four weekend masses attract up to 800 students.

Northwesterns religious groups also offer services of a different kind, channeling their energies toward helping the wider
community. Hillel students, for example, assist children with developmental disabilities. Sheil members cook and serve dinner
for about 60 homeless people every Sunday night. Canterbury is helping a group of Sudanese refugees in Chicago with meals,
computer training and developing job skills. And members of the University Lutheran Church tutor children in Chicago, volunteer
at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and serve food at a homeless shelter.

The importance of the campus religious groups became even clearer following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The fall quarter had
not yet begun, but the campus ministers quickly organized an interfaith gathering that very evening. For the National Day of
Prayer three days later, the religious leaders held a noon service at Millar Chapel. Before a standing-room-only crowd, clergy
and students read prayers, sang and shared thoughts from the Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Native American traditions.

On the first day of classes following the attacks, Muslim students organized a memorial service attended by about 1,000 people at
Cahn Auditorium. Students from about a dozen faiths willingly participated in the service. "The response was just overwhelming,"
Stevens says. "The efforts wed been making toward interfaith programming really paid off."

Helping to pull Northwesterns different religious groups together is NUCOR. The organization encourages cooperation and
understanding between faiths and includes Catholics, Christian Scientists, Jews, Unitarians, Bahais, Buddhists, Protestants and
Muslims. It sponsors speakers, field trips and a Religious Awareness Month that includes an activities fair in Norris University
Center and a series of fireside chats with students from different faiths.

But sometimes this spirit of religious fellowship is tested. Last fall a speaker on the Middle East prompted a heated debate
between Jewish and Muslim students. When the discussion grew angrier, Rabbi Mishkin invited both groups to a nearby restaurant
to break bread together  and cool off. "We had about 10 Jewish students and four Muslim students just chatting about general
things," Mishkin says. Despite the current Mideast situation, "theres definitely been work on campus this year to foster better
relationships between Jewish and Muslim groups."

Tensions also occasionally arise between evangelical Christians and other students who feel they are being pressured to convert.
Evangelical groups play a strong part in campus religious life, with 11 percent of incoming first-year students identifying
themselves as born-again Christians.

"Some of the evangelical groups are very attractive, and our students enjoy their events," the Rev. Simpson says. "But some
students find it rather upsetting to be confronted with a message from the evangelical groups that Catholics are not saved."

Non-Christians feel even more tension. An evangelical student once confronted Wrights Jewish roommate in a residence hall
bathroom at 4 a.m. and told her to read the New Testament. "Its frustrating for Jewish students to keep having to explain
themselves," Wright says. "Its a little uncomfortable and awkward."

Leaders of the evangelical groups are working to teach their members how to share their deep beliefs without pressuring other
students. "We are trying to help our younger students, who might have some preconceived notions, to express their convictions
without being judgmental," says Allen Wakabayashi, staff director of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. But by and large,
Wakabayashi and other on-campus religious advisers say, the different religions leave each other alone. "For the most part,
groups are driven with their own activities, which doesnt give them much time for meeting other groups," he says. "I think
everybodys running in their own groove and co-existing rather well."

D. Lynn Johnson, a materials science and engineering professor at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, is
an adviser to Mormon students. Hes seen the spirit of co-existence improve steadily since he began at Northwestern 40 years
ago. "Theres probably more cooperation and less rivalry than there was in the old days," he says. "I think people are more
ecumenical and tolerant than they were."

Sarah Conways family has seen improvement firsthand. Conway, co-president of Hillel and a senior majoring in economics and
mathematical methods in the social sciences, felt comfortable the minute she set foot on campus. She eats kosher meals in the
residence halls, hangs out at the Hillel and Chabad Houses and plays intramural basketball with the Hillel team. "I think for
the most part students feel very comfortable on campus expressing their Judaism," she says, adding that the same wasnt true
for her mother, Roz Weinberg Conway (SESP67). "There was the feeling then that when Jews were done with class, Northwestern
wanted them to go home," Conway says. "She could express being Jewish at Hillel and with her friends, but on the main part of
campus she felt separated."

Now even the smallest religious groups feel accepted. Last fall the Om Hindu Student Council and the South Asian Student Alliance
held a Garba Raas traditional Hindu folk dance performance. The festival attracted more than 400 people, many of them non-Hindus.
This interest by non-Hindus is typical of Oms events, says Smriti Mohan, a senior biomedical engineering major and Oms
former treasurer.

"I think people are supportive and curious," she says. "More people are interested and open to learning about different
traditions."

Jon Marshall (GJ91), a freelance writer based in Wilmette, Ill., teaches reporting at the Medill School of Journalism.